Italian press manufacturer Omet made a bold pronouncement at Labelexpo as it introduced two new machines to the Western Hemisphere. “For us the economy is not in doubt,” said Vice President Marco Calcagni. “We are growing, and growing very fast,” said Steve Leibin of Matik North America, which represents Omet, echoed Calcagni by asserting that the company “is the fastest growing press manufacturer in the market today.”

On display at the booth is the new F1 version of Omet’s VaryFlex, a gearless, shaftless sleeve press. The F1 has a lower press design, aimed at being more ergonomic for operators. It also features a new “on-the-fly” job changeover feature, a vision auto-register control system, and a shorter web path for a decrease in waste. The F1 press at Omet’s booth has been acquired by Smyth Label.

The X-Flex press, which won the FTA’s Technical Innovation Award this year, is new to the North American market, having been introduced in Europe last year. Like the F1 it is a gearless, shaftless sleeve press, but with a much smaller footprint, and available in web widths of 13” and 17”. Leiben says that each print station uses only 5.5' of web, “making this the shortest web path in the market by far. The X-Flex has extremely low waste, and extremely low ink usage.”